Rope and float assembly for use as a course demarcation line in a swimming pool

ABSTRACT

A rope and float assembly for use as a course demarcation line in a swimming pool comprising a rope, a synthetic resin sleeve disposed about said rope, a plurality of hollow cylindrical synthetic resin float members disposed about said sleeve with annular synthetic resin spacers interposed therebetween. The float members have tapered center openings and the spacers also have center openings. The smmalest diameter of the float member center openings and the inner diameter of the spacers are larger than the outer diameter of the sleeve so that the float members can individually move about the sleeve in response to movements of water currents in the swimming pool.

United States Patent 1191 Seno et a1.

1451 Sept. 11, 1973 ROPE AND FLOAT ASSEMBLY FOR USE AS A COURSE DEMARCATION LINE IN A SWIMMING POOL [22] Filed: May 10, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 251,981

[56] I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,074,083 ,1/1963 Schirmer ..9/8R 2,419,053 4 1947 3,517,400 6/1970 Stanwood 9/8 R x Kiefer 9/8 R X Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-Gregory W. OConnor Artorney E. F. Wenderoth. V. M. Creedon et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A rope and float assembly for use as a course demarcation line in a swimming pool comprising a rope, a synthetic resin sleeve disposed about said rope, a plurality of hollow cylindrical synthetic resin float members disposed about said sleeve with annular synthetic resin spacers interposed therebetween. The float members have tapered center openings and the spacers also have center openings. The smmalest diameter of the float member center openings and the inner diameter of the spacers are larger than the outer diameter of the sleeve so that the float members can individually move about the sleeve in response to movements of water currents in the swimming pool.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures ROPE A-ND FLOAT ASSEMBLY FOR-USE AS A COURSE DEMARCATION LINE IN A SWIMMING POOL BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The accompanying drawing shows one preferred embodiment of the invention in which:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION swimming pools, the'float members are'formed of wood and'in another prior art rope and float assembly, the

float members are formed of hollow synthetic resin cylinders. However, the two prior art types of'floatmeml5 bers referred'to above are integrally formedwith each other and therefore, these float members are bodily subjected to the movement of water currents inthe swimming pool which develop by the movement of swimmers and sprin'gly move as a whole which in turn develop the movementof water currents which will be propagated to adjacent similar rope and float assemblies'as course demarcation lines resulting in interference of the movement of swimmers. In order to overcome the difficulty referred to above, there has been proposed-to provide an annular recess in the outer periphery of the float member so as to reduce the wave receiving area of the float member and damp the force of water currents by the rotational action of the float member which will-be propagated to other course demarcationlines. However, the provision of such a recess in the gloat member could not fully attain its intended effects'because of overwhelming wave force which acts on the overall area of the float member and irregular wave movement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I Therefore", one principal objectof the present invention is to prove a novel and improved rope and float assembly for use as a course demarcation line in a swimming pool which can effectively eliminate the abovementioned difficulties.

The above object of the present invention can be attained by the providing a rope and float assembly for use as a course demarcation line in a swimming pool which comprises length of rope, a synthetic resin sleeve disposed about said rope along the length of the rope and having a pair of radially and outwardly extending stop flanges at the opposite ends, and a plurality of synthetic resin hollow cylindrical float members disposed about saidsleev'e with annular synthetic resin spacers interposed between adjacent float members, each'of said float members having a tapered center opening the center in the length of which is the smallest in diameter and gradually increasing the diameter toward the opposite ends of the opening where the opening diameter is thelargest and each of said spacers having the same inner diameter as thesmallest diameter center in the center opening of the float member.

The above and other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent to-those skilled in the art from a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing which shows one preferred embodiment of the invention-for illustration purpose only, but not for limiting the scope of the invention in any way.

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a section of acourse demarcation rope and float assembly in which:

a plurality of float members of the invention are employed with portion thereof in section'for clarification;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view takenalong substantially the line A B of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elavational view of said rope and float assembly of FIG. I; and

FIG. 4 is a vertically sectional view of one of said float members especially showing the inner construction of the float.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The present invention'will be now described referring to the accompanying drawing and more particularly, FIG. 1 thereof in which a course demarcation rope and float assembly for use in a swimming pool is illustrated. As shown in FIG. 1, the rope and float assembly comprises a length of rope R, a sleeve 3 disposed about the rope R along the length of the rope and a plurality of identical float members 1 freely mounted about the sleeve 3 in an end to end relationship with annular spacers 2 interposed between adjacent float members 1. The float member 1 is in the shape of a hollow synthetic resin cylinder having a tapered opening H and an annular recess 4 defined by the outer annular wall and the inner annular wall the latter of whichalso defines the center opening H. More particularly, the tapered center opening H has the smallest diameter in the center of the length and gradually increases its diameter from the center toward the opposite ends where the opening has the largest diameter. The spacer 2 is also made of the same type synthetic resin as that of the float member 1 and has the outer diameter smaller than that of the float member 1 and the inner diameter substantially the same as the smallest diameter in the center opening H of the float member 1 thereby to define a center opening h therein. The smallest diameter of the center opening H of the float member I and the diameter of the center opening h of the spacer 2 are larger than the diameter of the sleeve 3 which is also formed of the same type of synthetic resin as that of the float member 1 and spacer 2 so that the float member 1 and spacer 2 can freely and individually move about the sleeve 3. The sleeve 3 has radially and outwardly extending flanges 3 and 3" at the opposite ends and the flange 3' at one end (the left-hand end as seen in FIG. 1) is integrally formed with the sleeve 3 whereas theflange 3" at the other end (the right-hand end as seen in FIG. 1) is a separate part which is fitted on the sleeve 3 after a desired number of alternate float members 1 and spacers'2 have been alternately disposed on the sleeve 3 whereby the opposite flanges 3' and 3" coopearate with each other to hold the float member 1 and spacers 2 against slipping off the sleeve.

When the thus formed rope and float assembly is placed in a desired position in a swimming pool to provide a demarcation line and subjected to irregular movement of water currents which are generated in the water of the pool by swimmers, the individual float members 1 freely and individually move about the sleeve 3 in response to such movement of water currents thereby to damp the force of the water current movement. The thus damped force of water current movement will not be propagated to other adjacent demarcation lines each formed of the rope and float assembly as referred to above. Thus, the novel rope and float assembly can effectively eliminate the difficulty experienced in the prior art rope and float assembly which comprises a plurality of float members which are integral with each other so that the whole assembly is bodily subjected to the force of water current movement so as to cause the floats to move springily resulting in interference of the movement of swimmers. Therefore, the novel rope and float assembly assures that swimmers can rightly compete in swimming.

It will be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative so as to obtain the benefits of all equivalents to which the invention is fairly entitled.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and that all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A rope and float assembly for use as a course demarcation line in a swimming pool comprising a length of rope, a synthetic resin sleeve disposed about said rope along the length of the rope and having a pair of radially and outwardly extending stop flanges at the opposite ends, and a plurality of synthetic resin hollow cylindrical float members disposed about said sleeve with annular synthetic resin spacers interposed adjacent float members, each of said float members having a tapered center opening the center in the length of which is the smallest in diameter and gradually increasing the diameter from the center toward the opposite ends of the opening where the opening diameter is the largest and each of said spacers having the same inner diameter as the smallest center diameter in the center opening of the float member.

2. The rope and float assembly as set forth in claim 1, in which the smallest diameter in the center in the length of the center opening and the inner diameter of said center opening of the spacer is larger than the outer diameter of said sleeve and the outer diameter of said annular spacer is smaller than that of said float member. 

1. A rope and float assembly for use as a course demarcation line in a swimming pool comprising a length of rope, a synthetic resin sleeve disposed about said rope along the length of the rope and having a pair of radially and outwardly extending stop flanges at the opposite ends, and a plurality of synthetic resin hollow cylindrical float members disposed about said sleeve with annular synthetic resin spacers interposed adjacent float members, each of said float members having a tapered center opening the center in the length of which is the smallest in diameter and gradually increasing the diameter from the center toward the opposite ends of the opening where the opening diameter is the largest and each of said spacers having the same inner diameter as the smallest center diameter in the center opening of the float member.
 2. The rope and float assembly as set forth in claim 1, in which the smallest diameter in the center in the length of the center opening and the inner diameter of said center opening of the spacer is larger than the outer diameter of said sleeve and the outer diameter of said annular spacer is smaller than that of said float member. 